UBCD on a USB Flash Disk (USB Key)

reblu · **Joined:** Sun Jun 26, 2005 2:57 pm **Posts:** 28

Well, that's bad... There is only one more thing I can think of... Syslinux was able to boot in your laptop but it was not able to see any partition...maybe there is some kind of problem with LBA support... since your Key has 2GB, it does not really require LBA (only if >8GB) so you should be able to safely change the type from 0C (FAT 32 LBA) to 0B (FAT 32) with PTEdit. You can use the "set Type" button, which gets enabled once you place the cursor in any of the fields of the partition. Make sure you are looking at the USB Key (in your case Drive 2), before clicking "Save Changes". You do not want to alter your Hard Disk...

Still, I do not know why it should make a difference, since it worked on your desktop, but again...

Regarding the file to edit with an hexeditor is ubusb.c32 in your USB Key. UltraEdit in HexEditor mode should be fine.

Limerick · **Joined:** Wed May 04, 2005 11:26 am **Posts:** 46

In fact, the only time I had 0C was when I forrmatted the key with the "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool", and it did never work.

The only time it worked (with the desktop) was when I formatted the key with "ubcd2usbfdd". So it was like the garbage you were talking about.

Whatever I tried else failed for both computer.

What I don't understand is that 'USB RMD-FDD" displayed on my laptop boot screen.

You've never talked about it... Is it exactly the same than the "USB-FDD" you've explained to me before ?

reblu · **Joined:** Sun Jun 26, 2005 2:57 pm **Posts:** 28

Well, you got the syslinux prompt when booting with the Key formatted as HDD. You could try changing the FAT type in that instance.

Another option is removing the -Z in the makebootfat line of the ubcd2usbmul script so that the multiboot would be both USB-HDD and USB-FDD, but not USB-ZIP.

RMD-FDD, seems to stand for (Atapi) Removable Device - Floppy Disk Drive. So I would imagine the FDD formatting should be the one working, but it didn't...

Look again in your BIOS. It probably has some option to change that... Either in the USB configuration or in the Advanced setup. Make sure you have the Key connected.

Limerick · **Joined:** Wed May 04, 2005 11:26 am **Posts:** 46

reblu wrote:

Another option is removing the -Z in the makebootfat line of the ubcd2usbmul script so that the multiboot would be both USB-HDD and USB-FDD, but not USB-ZIP.

This does not change the "No operating system" message while booting on the desktop. So I did not try on the laptop.

Quote:

Well, you got the syslinux prompt when booting with the Key formatted as HDD. You could try changing the FAT type in that instance.

The 0C appears only if I format with the "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool".
If I format with any ubcd2usbxxx command, it's one of the three shown on your previous screens, 0C never appears, so I've got nothing to change from 0C to 0B

Most of all, whatever existing previously on the key, running any of ubcd2usbxxx formats the key in no bootable way for my laptop.

To sum up, the best thing we had is with the ubcd2usbfdd which allows to boot only my desktop and as you say, I will look again in my BIOS with my key connected, which was not before...

I'm going to reboot and will come back here to tell you if, this way, I have some more options than the RMD-FDD I've already seen before.

Limerick · **Joined:** Wed May 04, 2005 11:26 am **Posts:** 46

So here is my laptop's BIOS :

I've no other choice concerning USB devices. Here or in any other pages...

May I understand that I could not use your so wonderful work with my laptop

reblu · **Joined:** Sun Jun 26, 2005 2:57 pm **Posts:** 28

Sorry, I am out of ideas...

The thing is that syslinux loads on that machine... It's just not able to read ubusb.c32...

Limerick · **Joined:** Wed May 04, 2005 11:26 am **Posts:** 46

No problem reblu

It's very kind from you to have helped me the way you did.

May be some day, some one coming here and strong enough to read all that stuff will post THE solution...

However, I leave tomorrow for one week vacation and will come back here to see if something has changed :wink:

Thank you very much reblu

Same for NwDsk... and Victor of course

See you

Rockdrala · **Joined:** Wed Sep 28, 2005 2:54 pm **Posts:** 1

My usb drive is aleady bootable and it boots into dos and has various tools on it for recovery.

Do You perhaps have an executable for the USB-UBCD I could fit into usb that would self extract and load in the same fashion that Onsite's Data Recovery Does From a Floppy in DOS (which I also Have on my flash drive, but it aint free

)

Also would you mind integrating the Infamous USB Driver by Hairy Motto , Basically I would like to
1. Open and Run the USB-UBCD from .exe in DOS

2. Have the USB-UBCD load the famous USBASPI.SYS Driver...

Why?

That Driver by Hairy Motto is infamous finding large external hard drives.

If the USB-UBCD will start and then load that USB Driver then it will find external hard drives and I can copy recovered files to 250 gb external hard drive instead of my 128 mb flash drive. It takes several times with my puny flash drive.

Please Help...

Rockdrala

Area 51 Staff

http://support.studio505.net

tourane · **Joined:** Mon Dec 05, 2005 2:49 am **Posts:** 1

reblu wrote:

Ok I think I am ready to explain how to create the Ultimate UBCD on a USB drive, despite the lack of interest in the poll (there are only 5 votes). Still, this thread seems to have quite a few views...

I hope this is not a long post. I’ll call the package the UBUSB. The instructions are basically for Windows users, but should not be much different for Linux users.

You will need:
Makebootfat
Syslinux
My UBUSB menu package
The modified version of the freedos image (FDUBCD.IMG)

For offline pwd recovery and grub, you will need the igz equivalents of the iso and to allow booting from the CD ROM you will need the the bootable CD Wizard image
grub.igz
offline.igz
bcdl.igz

Finally, obviously the UBCD iso

If you do not want to burn the ISO to access the contents to copy them to the USB, you can use a tool like virtualCDcontrolpanel

Note that I have not managed to be able to run INSERT, windiag, g4u or rip.

1.- In order to improve the compatibility of the drive with the most number of BIOS, we will format the drive in USB-ZIP compatibility mode, we will make it bootable and we will load syslinux in it (WARNING: THIS WILL REMOVE ALL THE CONTENTS OF THE USB DRIVE)
1.1 Unzip the Makebootfat package to a folder. Unzip Syslinux to another folder and Copy ldlinux.sys, mbr.bin and ldlinux.bss from the Syslinux folder into the makebootfat folder
1.2 Open a DOS window, go to that folder and type
makebootfat -o usb -Z -Y -b ldlinux.bss -m mbr.bin -c ldlinux.sys

2.- Copy all the contents of the \images subfolder of the UBCD into the root of the USB drive

3.- Copy the rest of folders to the USB drive directly, except the boot folder. So your USB drive will have all the subfolders of the UBCD, except for the folders "boot" and "images". Your USB drive root folder will contain all the images.

4.- Remove grub.iso and offline.iso from the root of the USB drive.

5.- Copy the contents of my menu package in the root folder of the USB drive

6.- copy the new images of bcdl, grub and offline to the root of the USB drive.

7.- Rename the freedos image from FDUBCD.IMG to freedos.img and copy it as well to the root of the USB drive.

8.- Copy chain.c32 to the root of the USB drive from the com32/modules subfolder of the syslinux package

I hope somebody finds this useful.
[Edit: Link to Syslinux updated to 3.09]

Hi Reblu,

I have tried your Tuto, but I'm stopped by this line :

makebootfat -o usb -Z -Y -b ldlinux.bss -m mbr.bin -c ldlinux.sys

What is "usb" ? Is the volume name of the key or a folder ?

I see another line by U with :

makebootfat -o usb -Z -Y -b ldlinux.bss -m mbr.bin -c ldlinux.sys image

What is "image" ? is-it a folder ? If it's a folder, I have "Error Opening Image".

Have you build UBCD 3.3 on an USB Key which work ? If yes, can you sent to me your application, because it's Free ? Can you sent to me a "PM" for my "Web space".

I need your help.

Thanks !!!

Styx279 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 06, 2006 9:13 am

2reblu: Pls make available the advanced usb menu sources, because it seems the project is lacking usability without customization of advanced menu. Currently using a comparatively ugly syslinux.cfg menu. :cry:

Thanks for a great work you and nwdsk have done!

Mostly using usb key with ubusb in testing memory on a problematic or new machines...

Please let me know how to make a custom image...
I wanted to replace memtest86+ v.1.55 to v.1.65
after I wrote the image to FDD and later

Code:

rawread mt165 a:
gzip mt165

I get mt165.gz with a size 558345 which is oversized in comparison to 43 129 memtestp.igz on a disk.

At the same time

Code:

rawread mt165 a: --image

results in smaller image which I was unable to boot with ubusb... :oops:

Code:

~
$ gzip mt165

apostnik@apostnik ~
$ ls -l mt165.gz
-rwxrwxrwx  1 apostnik Domain Users 39601 Jan  6 20:26 mt165.gz

I have managed to make a usable and decently small image of memtest86+ v.1.65
using FDD image from http://www.wolfgang-brinkmann.de/bcdw/index.htm
and VFD (Virtual Floppy Driver for Win32)
First mount an image of 1.44Mb diskette to VFD as drive b:,
cleared the original content
Then

Code:

rawrite.exe memtest.bin b:

umount the image (close it)
and with cygwin bash shell

Code:

gzip -9 image.img
mv image.img mt165.igz

Resulting image was about 91Kb and successfully bootable with syslinux and memdisk!

adrian15 · **Joined:** Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:14 am **Posts:** 24

Hi!
I've made a version of Super Grub Disk (a modified version of Grub) that can be boot from a flash usb disk. I do no know how the UBCD menu can be called from Grub but I think it will be quite easy.

I think that SGD will make your UBCD in flash disk more easy although I think you know more about the UBCD menu than you.

I give you a link to the sgd usb downloads http://adrian15.raulete.net/grub/tiki-list_file_gallery.php?galleryId=5

You can follow the instructions on /boot for making this tar.gz inside a USB pendrive and boot it with Super Grub Disk on it.

The main advantage of using SGD among other grubs is that it autodetects its boot device so it may be hd0 or hd1 it will boot the same way.

You will tell me if it helps you I am very interested in results of mergin SGD or Grub with UBCD in Flash disk.

Another advantage of using Grub this way is that you do not loose any data inside your pendrive (I've read in another method that you did).

adrian15

Limerick · **Joined:** Wed May 04, 2005 11:26 am **Posts:** 46

Thank you very much adrian15

I'll check all that in a while (I'm a bit busy at this time

)

If anybody else tries adrian's tip, please report here

See you

psyk · **Joined:** Thu Mar 02, 2006 5:54 pm **Posts:** 1

Hello, I think this UBUSB is a great idea!

However, I am tryingn to figure out a way to keep my USB booting use to a minimum. I am looking to only boot three floppy images from my USB drive (Ghost with NIC drivers) but still use the UBCD-style menus to choose among the three. How and what do I need to accomplish this?

I would only like the menu to appear once it boots from the USB drive and then boot from whichever floppy image I choose from the menu.

I've been trying to do this on my own but I just can't seem to get it to work. Thanks!

stevodude · **Joined:** Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:13 pm **Posts:** 4

yes I love ubcd on usb.

I can stick it in my pocket and take it anywhere.

I work as IT on a university campus and it's a great help when I'm in another building I can just diagnose mem errors etc as I go :-)

I would love to get insert working on usb boot.

on the ubcd2usb there is a SGD.iso file on it... has that anything to do with super grub boot? can that be used to help boot insert, or dsl for that matter.

would really love to have the ultimate usb boot stick with ubcd diagnostics AND a Xwindows gui :-)

HENNESSY · **Joined:** Sat Mar 11, 2006 6:53 pm **Posts:** 1

NwDsk wrote:

I uploaded a simple package to make a USB-UBCD a la Reblu: UBCD2USB

Download: http://www.veder.com/ftp/nwdsk/beta/ubcd2usb.zip

Just unzip to a new directory. Then go to that directory and run
'ubcd2usb <path-to-ubcd> <usb-drive>'

Erwin

I'm trying this now with my iPod nano, would be cool if I could boot from it. I'll let you know if it worked in a few minutes.

Update:
I could boot from it, but a lot of programs did not work, I would get this message:

Panic: MCB chain corrupted, system halted.

Also my iPod itself would not boot anymore (to play music), so tried copying all files from the ipod to my harddisk, then restored the ipod to a working state, and then copied the ubcd files back to the ipod, but now when I boot from the ipod I get a screen full of weird characters/symbols.

I also have iPodLinux(.org) running on it, but that shouldn't be a problem right?

stevodude · **Joined:** Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:13 pm **Posts:** 4

any more advancement on INSERT working in UBUSB?
If not anywhere you can point me to adding DSL to UBUSB?

[edit] got dsl to work with ubusb :-)

1.just downloaded dsl-2.2-embedded.zip
2.extracted to a folder somewhere
3.edited the working syslinux.cfg on the ubusb stick and added:
"
LABEL custom2
KERNEL linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 initrd=minirt24.gz nomce noapic qemu quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix frugal
"
4. copied folders:KNOPPIX,qemu(minus the 60Mb file) and files:bootmsg,dsl-linux.sh,f2,f3,linux24,logo.16,minirt24.gz to the root directory of the usb stick

thats it...

boot up UBUSB - select custom then custom2, boom xwindows active.

just what I needed.

ubusb with diagnostic apps, win98dos boot ghost imaging software, and xwindows.

tuxifer · **Joined:** Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:36 pm **Posts:** 1

stevodude wrote:

any more advancement on INSERT working in UBUSB?
If not anywhere you can point me to adding DSL to UBUSB?

[edit] got dsl to work with ubusb :-)

1.just downloaded dsl-2.2-embedded.zip
2.extracted to a folder somewhere
3.edited the working syslinux.cfg on the ubusb stick and added:
"
LABEL custom2
KERNEL linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 initrd=minirt24.gz nomce noapic qemu quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix frugal
"
4. copied folders:KNOPPIX,qemu(minus the 60Mb file) and files:bootmsg,dsl-linux.sh,f2,f3,linux24,logo.16,minirt24.gz to the root directory of the usb stick

thats it...

boot up UBUSB - select custom then custom2, boom xwindows active.

just what I needed.

ubusb with diagnostic apps, win98dos boot ghost imaging software, and xwindows.

Not sure if this is what your looking for but, I've got a walkthrough in the How To section at Pen Drive Linux explaining How To install and boot UBCD INSERT from a USB Stick.

You can find it in the forum at: http://www.pendrivelinux.com

adrian15 · **Joined:** Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:14 am **Posts:** 24

stevodude wrote:

yes I love ubcd on usb.

I can stick it in my pocket and take it anywhere.

I work as IT on a university campus and it's a great help when I'm in another building I can just diagnose mem errors etc as I go :-)

I would love to get insert working on usb boot.

on the ubcd2usb there is a SGD.iso file on it... has that anything to do with super grub boot? can that be used to help boot insert, or dsl for that matter.

would really love to have the ultimate usb boot stick with ubcd diagnostics AND a Xwindows gui :-)

SGD.iso is an old version of Super Grub Disk.

Although I think that SGD can make Insert boot... Insert has to have some usb modules to be able to read itself from usb devices and I do not know if it has them.

I cannot promise anything but I'll try to write about making SGD work with your UBCD.

adrian15

redstar2k · **Posted:** Tue Mar 28, 2006 2:43 am

I managed to succesfully run INSERT from a USB Flash drive.

Here is how:

1) copied all content of /isolinux into the root of the Flash
2) modified syslinux.cfg like this:

# INSERT

LABEL insert
KERNEL vmlinuz
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=en apm=power-off vga=791 initrd=miniroot.gz nomce quiet BOOT_IMAGE=insert

Theoriticaly all you need in the root is vmlinuz & miniroot.gz to boot.
More tests to come...

adrian15 · **Joined:** Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:14 am **Posts:** 24

redstar2k wrote:

I managed to succesfully run INSERT from a USB Flash drive.

1) copied all content of /isolinux into the root of the Flash
2) modified syslinux.cfg like this:

Theoriticaly all you need in the root is vmlinuz & miniroot.gz to boot.
More tests to come...

That is theoritically if only miniroot.gz has the needed components to read from usb devices. As you can boot miniroot.gz has to have them.

adrian15

UBCD on a USB Flash Disk (USB Key)

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